


Mother and Father

by bendthekneejon



Series: Moments: Spring and Bliss [4]
Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Adoption, F/M, Fix It Fic, Fluff, Happy Ending, Keeping Jonerys alive and happy through fanfic, Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-25
Updated: 2019-10-25
Packaged: 2021-01-03 04:51:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,862
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21173726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bendthekneejon/pseuds/bendthekneejon
Summary: Convinced they cannot have children, Jon and Dany head to an orphanage in Flea Bottom to adopt a child.Assuming 8x04, 8x05 and 8x06 never happened.





	Mother and Father

**Author's Note:**

> I was reading some history and realized that Augustus, the Roman Emperor, adopted Tiberius as his heir, who in turn adopted Germanicus as his. In the Byzantine empire there were even state-run orphanages. I guess it was also sort of common in Ancient Greece, as King Polybus adopted Oedipus on the play. So yeah, I thought it wouldn't be a bad idea for Jon and Dany to adopt a child from the Flea Bottom orphanage. It suits the protective and paternal trait both characters have. Dany loves children, loves protecting others, and if she truly is barren, I think she wouldn’t think twice about adoption in canon.  
I hope you enjoy this :)

“How do I look?” Jon asked Dany.

“Ordinary,” she replied with a smile, passing her hands down his arms over his worn-out, wrinkled shirt. She undid the bun in his head and shook his mane to set it loose.

“You don’t look so regal yourself, either,” he smiled, hiding a lock of her silver-blonde hair beneath the veil that covered her head and neck. “There, much better.”

The recently crowned King and Queen were hiding inside common people’s clothes. No Longclaw on Jon’s waist, no rings on Dany’s fingers. The Unsullied insisted on accompanying them, at least from a distance. They said they could defend themselves whatever happened, but they insisted. Flea Bottom wasn’t safe.

Jon put a sack on his back with everything they had packed to take. Excitement leaked out of him in the form of a kiss to her lips and a smile. They had left orders not to bother them that morning and left the Red Keep discretely, no one besides their guards knew their plans for the day. Once it was all done, they could give to their Hand and Council any explanation they demanded.

Three Unsullied, also dressed as common people, followed them ten feet behind them as they made their way through the crowded streets of King’s Landing holding hands. She couldn’t remember when was the last time she had walked that freely among people without being recognized. No matter the mud they were stepping on, the reeking smell of the streets, the people who bumped into them, Dany couldn’t keep a slow pace, she couldn’t wait any longer. For moments she even pranced instead of walking.

* * *

The previous day, they were walking to Drogon and Rhaegal when the thought of not having children invaded Dany’s thoughts once again.

“The king needs a fertile queen.” She had told Jon as she petted Drogon’s snout, wondering if her dragons would truly be the only children she’d ever have. “You’ll need heirs. And you always wanted a family and…I can’t give it to you.”

“I don’t care about that,” Jon had replied, trying to meet her gaze, yet she only looked down at the ground. “We’ll have the life we always wanted. Just us. With or without children.” Even though he did not want to be King, it was his duty, and if it was the way to be with her, he would take it. He loved her, and it was the first time in his life he could have both love and duty.

Dany nodded, shutting her eyes to help a tear from falling, yet it fell down anyway. “My dragons, my people…they’re my children, but it’s not the same as the love I felt when Rhaego was in my womb. Oh Jon, I was so impatient for him to be born, to give that infinite amount of love to a child of my own. I was so close…so close to having him. And I couldn’t!” she wiped her tears.  
He hugged her around the shoulders and she snaked her arms around his torso under his cloak. “I’m sorry,” he said quietly. “It’s not fair. I wish things had worked out differently for you.”

She sighed, resting the side of her face on his shoulder. “My people call me_ mhysa._”

“Yes, what does that mean?” he asked in a tender whisper.

“It means mother.” She replied with shut eyes. “My people call me mother. Mother to thousands, except my own children. And I’ve truly felt like a mother to them.” Jon stroked her head with his palm wide open.

Just like mothers did, her children were always before her own needs and wishes. She had put all her strength to save and protect them, like chaining her dragons—a painful decision, given how she also saw them as her children. She had pushed back her arrival to Westeros for years to keep peace in Slaver’s Bay. Once they were safe, with a trustworthy council and army, she could leave. Mothers help their children spread their own wings and fly. She had freed slaves and saved thousands. When she knew they could go on their own, she was ready to leave. A mother’s love was selfless, it was the purest, most giving kind of love.

They sat down on Drogon’s wing and leaned back against his warm body. The dragon turned his neck to watch the couple. She wondered out loud: “Now that I saved my previous children, can’t it be time to have my own? Can’t the curse be broken now?”

Jon held her hand over her lap. “I wish it could. You’ve given too much to others and received too little in return. It isn’t fair.”

She sighed, resting her forehead on his cheekbone. The world wasn’t fair, she had learned it over and over again. But was it such a difficult thing to ask for? A child? So many women who did not even want children, had children. Almost every woman she knew had a child. Why couldn’t she? They had saved the inhabitants of Westeros and they couldn’t have a child?

“And…what if…” Jon hesitated, “what if…we…have children anyway?”

“What do you mean?” She lifted her head to watch him.

“You know how my father, Eddard Stark, took me in?” She nodded with a curious gaze. “My life was not perfect, no bastard’s life is perfect. But… it was much better than the childhood I would have had as a homeless orphan.”

“A childhood like mine,” she nodded.

He looked at her with sad eyes and caressed the side of her face with the back of his fingers. She had grown up begging shelter with Viserys, even selling their mother’s crown for food. She looked up at the sky and wiped a tear. “A family, a place to call home, a loving mother and father, food at the table every day…no child deserves to be deprived of these things.” She pursed her lips to think. “We could give one the childhood we didn’t have, right? The one we wished we had.”

“I would like that very much.” He nodded before they closed their agreement with a tight embrace.

* * *

“Good morning,” an old woman greeted them at the door.

“Good morning,” Jon and Dany greeted her back, uncertain of what to do or say in a situation that was completely new to them.

“We would like to take a child in,” Jon said, forthright. The old woman's eyes widened in surprise, perhaps people didn’t do so, often.

The woman stepped aside quickly, welcoming them in. The unsullied stayed outside, pretending they weren’t watching. No attention should be drawn to them.

She introduced herself, her name was Myranda. “Not many couples come over to take children in. The only people who arrive are more orphans, especially after every battle.”

She showed them around. The kids were playing: as knights in a sword fight with sticks, or with a few worn-out toys in the shapes of horses and soldiers—courtesy of Queen Margaery, the woman explained. They were running—many of them barefoot—, laughing, hiding, chasing one another. There were babies so little they did not walk yet, there were children of the age of five, ten, three-and-ten.

“It’s a pity not more people come here more often,” Dany said.

“There are some donations here and there…but not much with Queen Cersei as with Queen Margaery. They say that the new King and Queen are more giving, though.”

“Aye, so I’ve heard,” Jon said, trying to hold back a chuckle.

“We brought something for them,” Dany said, pressing Jon’s hand as a signal. He took his sack off his shoulder and opened it—showing plenty of toys that had been at the Red Keep, perhaps of the previous princes and princesses. The kids gathered around them with grins as they handed them out.

“What do you say, children?” The Myranda asked.

“Thank you,” they replied in unison.

“You’re very welcome,” Dany replied with a grin.

They asked Myranda the needs the children had.

“Food, especially,” she replied. “Water. Clothes. Covers for their beds.”

“We will make sure they receive them all,” Jon said.

“Thank you very much,” she smiled. “May the Seven bless you.”

“You too, for your kind and giving work,” he replied.

“Where do you two come from?” Myranda asked. “I’m surprised I’ve never seen this kind couple around before.”

“We just moved in from…Braavos,” Dany said. “In search of a new life.”

And they truthfully were starting a new life. They were leaving behind a life of solitude and starting a life of love and family, but choosing which child would be theirs was the most difficult task.

“My father died in the battle,” one boy said. _He probably fought against us,_ Jon thought. Yet that didn’t matter.

“I never met my parents,” another girl said. Jon stroked Dany’s hand with his thumb. They all reminded them of them both.

Despite it all, the children were happy, laughing out loud, running. If only adults could rejoice that way despite their misfortunes!

One little was watching the rest with a smile. She was sharing her toys with the little ones.

Dany walked over to her. “What’s your name?” she asked her.

“Anya,” she replied.

She was five years old and had dark skin and hair. She was wearing an old, dirty dress. She would remember to bring clothes for the children.

Anya told them she wanted to learn to cook. When Jon asked her why, she said she wanted to feed the people on the streets as well.

“But they don’t let me…they tell me there isn’t even enough food for us,” she said.

“I know…it’s hard to want to help others but not being able to,” Dany said and sighed. She knew it well.

“We will bring more food,” Jon told her. “Tomorrow.”

“Thank you. And thank you very much for the presents,” she told them.

“You are very welcome.” Dany smiled. “Did you like them?”

“Yes,” she replied with a sweet smile.

They kept on talking to her. She was telling them they had been to the beach the other day and played all day in the sand. Jon and Dany told her they had sailed through the sea. “Sometimes it was fun, sometimes it was scary,” they answered when she asked them about it.

The same question was in both Jon and Dany’s mind: _could it be her?_

In a separate room, a wet nurse was rocking a small babe in her arms. Dany pulled Jon’s sleeve gently to follow her as she walked towards the babe. He was watching the wet nurse with wide eyes as she sang him a song. Anya walked in as well and started caressing his head.

Myranda explained to them, “He must be around six months old, was abandoned by the sea, a fisherman found him. Many newborn children are left to die.”

Left to die. _What did a babe do to deserve this?_ Dany thought. It was one of the cruelest injustices someone could do. But the fact that they had saved him filled her with joy. She knew what it was to live an injustice—more than one—and having survived had made her stronger. So did Jon.

“Could I…could I hold him?” She asked the wet nurse. She nodded with a smile and handed her the babe with the utmost care. He looked up at her. He had the tiniest nose, mouth, fingers, eyebrows she had ever seen. His head was covered by thin, brown hairs that matched the color of his eyes.

“What’s his name?” she asked.

“We named him Hugo.”

She gave him a soft smile, despite her teary eyes. Jon placed a hand on her shoulder, watching Hugo as she rocked him softly with a smile. Hugo’s eyes moved as he watched Jon and then Dany, and then Jon again. Jon held his tiny hand and he pressed Jon’s finger with his entire hand. Dany looked up at Jon and their gazes met with a smile.

But Hugo started crying. Dany got desperate, she wanted to calm him down for him to remain in her arms, but rocking him wasn’t enough. The wet nurse took him from Dany’s arms and left behind a ghost memory of his warm and weight, wanting him back already. The wet nurse rocked him and sang to him in a small voice until the babe calmed down. She placed him on his crib gently. Dany and Jon watched him from above. He hugged her by the shoulders, kissing her head. She held him by the waist. _Could it be him?_

It wasn’t an easy choice. So when Myranda asked them if they had made their minds, Jon replied, “We will discuss it over tonight and come back tomorrow.”

* * *

As soon as they were back in the Red Keep, Jon asked for supper to be made for the following day and for more toys to be made as well. Dany helped the handmaidens set up a new bedroom. They didn’t give any details nor reasons, but perhaps some could suspect what was going on.

As they lay in bed that night, Dany told Jon: “Can’t we take them all?” She giggled. “I don’t want to choose.”

“Neither do I. But at least for now, we must. The Red Keep will go crazy if we suddenly arrive with a hundred heirs. And could we give them all the necessary attention as parents if we are King and Queen? We don’t have much time.”

She chuckled. “Then let’s come back often. We’ll spend time with them, bring them… and see they’re alright.”

“Yes, we could always make sure they have enough food, water, clothes, toys. Everything they need. They shouldn’t lack any of them. I don’t want any child to go through what I had to go through. And these are kind women, they need to be rewarded for their work. But for now, let’s take in one child. Maybe later we could take in others.”

“One?” Dany asked. “But how to choose?” Jon turned to face her, waiting for her to go on. “Most parents have more than one child. I had two brothers, you had five siblings.”

“Do you want to take five children at once?” Jon asked. Parenting was a new experience for them, and he knew there was much they needed to learn.

“Not five.” She shook her head. “Two.”

He nodded, holding her hand between them. “Hugo and Anya.”

“I think we could be good parents for them. We can be a family of four. Maybe later we could take in another child…but Hugo and Anya, how could we choose between them?”

Jon nodded. “I agree. Both of them.”

Dany smiled and pressed a tiny kiss to his lips. “We’ve saved a couple of people. Saving a couple more isn’t much.”

“I think they’re saving us, as well.”

“We must strive to raise well as best as we can. We must be…not only kind rulers, but also kind parents,” Jon said to her. “Having a family isn’t enough,” said Jon. “They must treat you like you’re one of them, instead of making you feel like a stranger at your own house. You need to feel like you belong.”

“We will make sure they do,” said Dany. “They should never worry about not being a Targaryen by blood.”

“I’m afraid they will be treated as bastards. It’s a harsh life for a bastard here.”

She hugged him. “We’ll be King and Queen, won’t we? We will abolish bastardy. No more children will suffer such injustice. Not on our kingdom. We will make sure nobody ever makes them feel less of a person for having been born in a smallfolk family.”

He smiled. It would be complicated, but he would be willing to try.

“And there is so much we’ll have to teach those two!” She said with a grin. We will teach them to walk, to swing a sword, to ride a dragon once they’re older, but also to be kind to others, to give without expecting anything in return, to care about the smallfolk. We will assure they’ll be good people, good rulers, and for them to, later, raise their own children to be caring rulers as well. We’ll teach them about power, love, and wisdom. They must rule for the love of humanity, they must have power to get things done, and wisdom, because without it, power is disastrous.”

“We must teach them from our example,” Jon said. “We won’t live forever, but I hope our example will.”

She hugged him around the neck, exhaling with a smile. “I love you.”

“I love you too," he placed his hand on her neck. "If we could save Westeros from the Others, we can raise two children,” he said.

“I don’t doubt it,” she said with a giggle.

Hours later, when she thought he was asleep, his voice asked quietly in the dark: “Are you awake?”

“Yes,” she whispered.

“I can’t sleep. I’m too excited,” he chuckled. “Tomorrow we will be parents.”

She chuckled in joy and hugged him by the chest.

* * *

They repeated their routine the following morning, dressing as common people and sneaking out of the castle with three Unsullied following them from a distance.

At the orphanage, they broke their fast with the children, sitting at a table next to Anya, as they had brought more bread with them from the castle.

In private, they told Myranda they had decided to take Hugo and Anya in. She gave them advice on how to take care of them and on their transition from the orphanage to a new home.

“Hugo will cry often at the beginning,” she said. “Perhaps Anya will, too. They’re young and will have to get used to a new place.”

Jon carried Hugo in his arms and handed him a small toy of which he held a tight grip with both hands. He hoped he could get used to his new life with ease.

Dany told him with a smile, “You look like father and son already.”

Dany then read the children a story while Jon was still holding Hugo, sitting by her side. Afterward, Dany asked Anya, “Did you like the story?”

“Yes, but it made me sad. I want a family, just like in all those stories,” she said, looking at the floor.

Jon and Dany looked at each other, her gaze was a silent question than he answered with a small nod and a smile.

“We can be your family. If that’s what you want.”

Anya looked up at them with her mouth agape, speechless.

“If you decide to come with us,” Jon said, “we promise we will do our best to make you happy and raise you well. If you decide to stay, it’s also alright. We will come over often to leave donations here.”

“I want to go with you.” Anya nodded. Jon and Dany smiled at her. “Does that mean that…does that mean that you’ll be my mother and father?”

Dany’s eyes teared up. “Yes, dear. Yours and Hugo’s.”

She hugged both of them by the neck.

“We love you already.”

* * *

Jon held Hugo in his arms and kissed his head. Dany had her chin on Jon’s shoulder, staring down Hugo with a smile. “Time to go home,” she said quietly to Jon. “We have much work to do.” A new reign was starting and so was a new family, so a busy life lay ahead.

With an embrace, they said goodbye to Myranda but not for long. They would come back once a fortnight but would make sure the kids never missed a meal.

Dany held Anya by the hand as they stepped out of the orphanage into the streets of Flea Bottom while Jon carried Hugo in his arms. The Unsullied waiting outside smiled at the view. Dany replied with a grin—she had barely seen them smile before. Jon wished he could see Dany this happy every day! He barely saw her smile before, her life had been extremely harsh, and now, she couldn’t stop smiling. Happiness. That was what she deserved.

It was time for peace. Jon and Dany hated war. There was no better way to end a time of death than with life and love: children, a wife, flowers blooming as a sign of spring arriving.

“Do you live around here?” Anya asked them as they started walking along the streets.

“Yes,” Jon replied. “Just some blocks away. It’s also our new home.”

**THE END.**

* * *

_ **A greenseer took a look at the future and professed to me how the following weeks looked like:** _

Jon leaned in over Hugo, covering his face with his hands and playfully taking them away with a funny gasp. Hugo grinned as he lay back on his crib. Jon covered his face again and Dany gasped. “Where is he?” Hugo smiled, extending his arm to reach Jon’s hand covering his face. Jon showed his face and Hugo laughed out loud. It made them both laugh as well. Dany had never seen Jon this playful, this innocent. She fell in love with him even more. Jon drew his face near Hugo’s and Hugo extended his arm to grab his nose and then pulled his hair. Jon, Dany, and Anya laughed.

Anya’s laugh, Hugo’s laugh. A sign that life could start again.

Anya chased Jon in the gardens of the Red Keep while Dany sat on the ground with Hugo. Jon slowed down deliberately for Anya to catch him. “You’re too fast!”

She laughed out loud, “I caught you! I caught you!”

Jon got on his fours and Anya sat on his back, as if he were a horse. Sometimes they did ride an actual horse together, especially with Dany, who was a better rider. 

She liked to comb her father's hair and to put it on a bun, just like her mother had taught her. Sometimes, she liked to play that she was the mother and Dany, the daughter.

In bed, Dany loved to put her knees up with her feet against the mattress, as Hugo sat on her belly with his back against her legs. She talked to him, sang to him that way, holding his tiny hands or feet. He watched her with attention. Jon filled his belly with kisses, tickling him and making him laugh. He also carried him above his head, running around the room, to make him feel as if he were flying—one day, when they were older, they would truly fly in the dragons—and the landing area was always the same one: his mother’s chest or stomach as she lay on the bed—one of his favorite places to sleep on as he felt her breathing beneath him.

She was a mother to her people, a mother to her dragons, and now, finally, a mother to her own. Dany and Jon—but also Anya and Hugo—finally had a family and a home. There was nothing else they needed.

**Author's Note:**

> Well, I always do this. I recycle my fic subplots again and again, but tbh, this was too cute of a daydream not to write. And given Jon and Dany's willingness to save the poor and wanting to protect the people, it would make sense for them to adopt.


End file.
